Letter: Paragon of values?

Claudio Ferri of Zimbali writes: I refer to The North Coast Courier dated September 21, in which the headline ‘Ilembe farm scam shock’ is followed by ‘ANCYL leader guilty of murder’.

So we have funds allocated over a two year period for the Kumile Agricultural Project, set aside by various government departments and the Mandeni municipality, which were never spent for their intended purpose.

Instead, the land remains vacant and nobody can account for the funds that were earmarked for this project. The Mandeni municipal manager Sizwe Khuzwayo denies culpability and apportions blame on the agricultural department.

Sounds very much like ANC/ Zuma playbook wehave been subjcted to for nearly eight years – money has been misappropriated, often running into billions and nobody knows anything and no one is accountable.

This is followed by obfuscation, denials and lies and ultimately concluded by invoking the White Monopoly
Capital conspiracy sound bite – conceived in the boardrooms of Bell Pottinger at the behest of foreign friends of the former President as if there was any merit in the claim or even some kind of moral equivalency.

Then we have the ANCYL regional secretary, Musa Zondi, found guilty of murder and kidnapping. He is then acclaimed by his peers and supporters at a mass prayer meeting as being a ‘role model in politics and life in general’.

I guess they were lamenting the fact that he was caught and found guilty rather than the impact that such a crime has on their own community.

For too long the ANC has been selling itself as the paragon of moral authority and the custodian of the transformation process. These daily headlines and the state capture hearings have certainly dispelled this notion.